A chaotic Supercars race in Melbourne this evening has seen Brodie Kostecki take victory over Shane van Gisbergen and Will Brown respectively.
Once again it was a frantic affair as fire, crashes, post-race penalties and a time-shortened race contributed to the narrative.
Right from the get-go it was Kostecki powering away off the front, yesterday’s race winner pulling clear of his teammate Brown into Turn 1.
Fullwood was another to start well off the second row and was quick to put pressure on Brown, the trio pulling clear from the pack.
Will Davison and Anton de Pasquale had also begun well and were sitting a distant fourth and fifth respectively.
Van Gisbergen was one of the biggest early movers and had moved up to ninth by the end of Lap 1. It was the opposite for Matt Payne who had started fifth, the young Kiwi forced off-line and quickly swallowed by the chasing pack.
Mark Winterbottom became a Lap 1 victim of the Albert Park walls, running into the Turn 8 fence as James Golding attempted a move up the inside. Damage was the result which forced Frosty to limp back to the lane to retire.
A frantic first lap ended in astonishing fashion, James Courtney returning to the lane with his car engulfed in flames, similar to what was seen to Nick Percat’s car yesterday.
Serious concerns will be rising in the Supercars paddock with two fires now having caused significant damage to two separate cars this weekend.
Just a few turns later there was also drama on track, de Pasquale the unlucky victim after being collected by Macauley Jones who had been nudged by Payne heading into Turn 8.
De Pasquale hit the wall on the outside and spun across the track, miraculously missing the pack before hitting the inside barrier to damage both ends of his Mustang.
Jones was also forced out, put into the outside wall in a similar fashion to what had happened to Winterbottom a lap earlier.
A Safety Car was the immediate result, four cars now out after a frantic opening two laps.
Kostecki continued to hold his lead over Brown, Fullwood, Davison and Golding under caution. Heimgartner was the best of the Kiwis in sixth, one spot ahead of van Gisbergen.
Championship-leading Chaz Mostert was in eighth while Payne and Tim Slade rounded out the top 10. Potential post-race penalties loom over Payne and Golding who were involved in separate collisions.
Racing got back underway on Lap 6 with van Gisbergen quickly picking off Heimgartner at Turn 3 to move into sixth.
News quickly came through that Payne had been awarded a drive-through for his role in the earlier incident, forcing the Kiwi out of contention.
Van Gisbergen was then able to pick off Golding to move to fifth.
Heimgartner attempted to follow the very next lap by going around the outside at Turn 3, only to find Slade had dived up the inside. Golding was the filling of a three-car sandwich which saw him spin across in front of Slade
Heimgartner lost ground as a result, dropping to eighth while Golding avoided the wall at Turn 4 to return at the rear of the pack.
It was apparent the race was going to become a timed affair once again with a crowded pit lane the result as teams scrambled to serve their mandatory stop.
Erebus was hurt by running one-two at this point with Brown boxing a lap earlier to avoid a double stack. With the majority of the pack coming in a lap later Brown lost out, Kostecki returning to the lead over Davison, Fullwood and van Gisbergen with Brown forced to drop to fifth.
The scramble in the lane had seen a number of unsafe releases, including for Davison and Fullwood who were penalised 15 seconds post-race which stripped them both of their podiums and put van Gisbergen to second and Brown to third.
This was further compounded by a loose wheel out of Red Bull’s garage, a mechanic left chasing it down the lane as Mustangs and Camaros swerved to avoid it.
News also emerged of a post-race investigation over Kostecki’s release which is yet to be resolved.
The post-race penalties also elevated Mostert up to fourth and Heimgartner up to fifth. Payne was classified 21st after serving his penalty.
Broc Feeney was one of the biggest movers, driving from 21st to finish 7th.
Supercars return for one final race in Melbourne tomorrow at 12.30 pm NZ time.
